Tuesday, 17 March 2020

Ministers statements: COVID-19

Mr MERLINO (Monbulk—Minister for Education) (12:23): I rise to update the house on how the Victorian education system is managing the COVID-19 pandemic that we are all facing. Firstly I want to acknowledge and thank the fantastic efforts of all of our school leaders, our teachers and support staff. They are ensuring that students keep learning and that school communities are kept informed and calm about changes at schools that are happening right now and preparations being put in place for what may happen in the future. I acknowledge that there are parents, staff and students who are of course concerned about coronavirus and particularly about school closures. Every decision we are making is based on the recommendations of health experts. It is the only responsible course of action.

The current advice from the chief health officer here in Victoria and the commonwealth chief medical officer is that mass school closures are not needed at this stage. Indeed the chief health officer has advised in his statement yesterday that pre-emptive school closures are not likely to be proportionate or effective as a public health intervention to prevent community transmission of COVID-19 at this time. He went on to say in his latest advice that school closures may be considered in anticipation of a peak in infection rates. Any decision to close a school will be made on the recommendation of our chief health officer, which will be communicated immediately to all parents, students and staff at affected school or schools.

Finally, in terms of preparation, the department has developed a range of online and offline delivery options aligned to the Victorian curriculum and adaptable to individual schools and age groups, and that was developed in consultation with and working with the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, Catholic Education and Independent Schools Victoria. We are ready if and when schools are required to close.